BREAKING: Food stamps under attack & Close vote this week on food stamp cuts: Tell your member of Congress oppose all cuts & Under Republican plan, 3.8 million would lose food stamps in 2014 18SEP13

repiglicans and tea-baggers and their extremist right wing "christian" fanatics are attacking SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) with federal budget cuts that will bring cruel and unchristian suffering to millions of children and their families across the U.S. For a country where so many on the political right claim to be guided by Christian principles it is mind blowing this legislation is even being considered. This is not how Christ instructed us to treat the least among us. With the country still in recession we can not allow this legislation to be passed. Please sign the petition to Congress below and click the link to your specific Representative telling them to reject the defunding of SNAP. 

Congress could vote this week on a bill to kick millions of children and families off SNAP--a.k.a. "food stamps." We have to show them that we won't stand for attacks on programs that help the neediest Americans. Can you sign the petition? Click Here

Congress wants to take food from the mouths of hungry children and families. Literally.

For 30 years, the food stamp program--now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or "SNAP"--has been renewed regularly by Congress with broad bipartisan support and minimal opposition.¹And for good reason: SNAP lifted 4.7 million people out of poverty in 2011 alone, 2.1 million of whom were children. SNAP also boosts our economy, returning $9 for each $5 spent on the program.² No brainer, right?

But Congress is proposing cuts of about $40 BILLION from SNAP, kicking somewhere between 4 and 6 million people off the program.³

After children, women are the biggest SNAP recipients,⁴ relying on it to provide food for themselves and their families--including millions of kids who would otherwise go hungry. Congress could vote on the bill this week. Before they do, we have to show them that attacks on programs like SNAP will create intense public backlash. Journalists are just starting to write about the immoral cuts in this bill. If tens of thousands of us speak out now, we can expose what Congress is up to and make sure it's defeated. Can you sign the petition?

Sign the petition to tell Congress: Hands off SNAP.

Hunger is a serious problem in this country. Studies show that children who don't have a reliable source of food were more likely to be hospitalized, have chronic conditions such as asthma, or have behavioral problems and trouble in school.⁵ Last year, 1 in 6 Americans struggled with hunger, including 16 million children. SNAP helped nearly 15% of people in the U.S. rely on the program to provide food for themselves or their families.⁶ According to the Center for American Progress, "nearly 72 percent of SNAP participants are in families with children; more than one-quarter of participants are in households with seniors or people with disabilities."⁷ 

But conservatives in the House can't stop attacking this vital program. In June, they introduced a bill to cut more than $20 billion from the program, but it failed in the House in part because extremists didn't think it cut enough. Now, they're back with this new bill that doubles the cuts to a devastating $40 billion.⁸ The bill would take free school meals away from 210,000 children and affect 170,000 veterans. In total, 22 million children and 9 millions seniors or people with disabilities would be hurt by the cuts. It would even cost 55,000 jobs in the first year alone.⁹

Conservatives are determined to slash funding to SNAP and other programs like it. We have to make sure this bill is defeated and show them that it doesn't pay to attack the neediest Americans. If we generate enough outrage to get the attention of the press, we can make sure this bill is defeated. Can you sign?

Add your name.

Thanks for speaking out.

--Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, and Malinda, the UltraViolet team

Sources:

1. 30 Years of Tackling Hunger on a Bipartisan Basis Is in Danger of Failing This Fall, Center for American Progress, September 16, 2013

2. Infographic: Stop Slashing SNAP, Center for American Progress, September 16, 2013

3. 30 Years of Tackling Hunger on a Bipartisan Basis Is in Danger of Failing This Fall, Center for American Progress, September 16, 2013

4. Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2011, United States Department of Agriculture, November 2012

5. Child Development, Feeding America

6. More Than 1 in 7 Use Food Stamps in U.S., Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2012

7. 30 Years of Tackling Hunger on a Bipartisan Basis Is in Danger of Failing This Fall, Center for American Progress, September 16, 2013

8. Ibid.

9. Infographic: Stop Slashing SNAP, Center for American Progress, September 16, 2013

Close vote this week on food stamp cuts: Tell your member of Congress oppose all cuts

Craig, House Republicans are scrambling to pass a bill as soon as today that would kick 3.8 million people off food stamps. But they don't have the votes yet. We can stop these cuts: Click here to send an email to your member of the House of Representatives opposing all cuts to food stamps.  The proposed cuts are so horrifyingly vicious that a couple dozen Republicans are wavering on whether to support them. With Republicans holding a gerrymander-fueled 233-200 advantage in the House of Representatives, 20 defectors would be enough to defeat this gruesome bill. Whether your member of the House is a Republican or a Democrat, please send an email to him or her right now opposing all cuts to food stamps. Please, please, click here to send an email to your member of the House of Representatives opposing all cuts to food stamps. Keep fighting, Chris Bowers, Daily Kos TUE SEP 17, 2013 AT 08:39 AM PDT Under Republican plan, 3.8 million would lose food stamps in 2014 byLaura ClawsonFollow House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Speaker John Boehner Yes, the Republican proposal for $40 billion in food stamp cuts over the next 10 years would have horrific effects on millions of people, the dirty hippies over at the Congressional Budget Office confirm: According to the CBO, 1.7 million people would be forced off the rolls in the coming year if the state waivers are repealed as proposed by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Another 2.1 million would be dropped in 2014 as a result of the tighter eligibility rules backed by the GOP. In both cases, the impact would decline as the economy improves and more jobs become available. But on average, CBO estimates that a total of 2.8 million people would lose their benefits over the next decade, and another 850,000 households will see an average reduction of about $90 a month in benefits. That's 1.7 million people going hungry or being forced onto severely restricted diets now, with millions more to come. A $90 cut in the groceries a family can buy in a month is also a Big F'ing Deal, especially for a family that's already pinching every penny to get enough to eat. Taking $90 out of a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program allotment that already only lasts most families two and a half weeks is in itself cruel—and, from the most coldly financial perspective, shortsighted, since forcing people to eat more cheaply means increased risk of diabetes and other chronic conditions that will raise health care costs for the nation. But this is what Eric Cantor and the starvation caucus of his party want. And even if they can't actually get $40 billion in cuts through the Senate or signed by the president, the farm bill—which nutrition assistance is usually part of and which House Speaker John Boehner isn't sending to conference with the Senate until these cuts get a vote—sure makes a nice hostage to take in the effort to force deeper cuts than either the Senate or the president would want to make. Wed Sep 18, 2013 at 11:44 AM PT (Chris Bowers): Please send an email to your member of the House of Representatives, telling him or her to oppose all cuts to food stamps. ORIGINALLY POSTED TO LAURA CLAWSON ON TUE SEP 17, 2013 AT 08:39 AM PDT. ALSO REPUBLISHED BY DAILY KOS. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/17/1239453/-CBO-3-8-million-would-lose-food-stamps-in-2014-under-House-cuts?detail=action#